ATZ engine. EMH 5 speed box. Snicks into 1-5 but usually find reverse is a no. Stick goes down and across to the left without resistance but then just feels solid when you try to push forward into reverse. Almost like it has not cleared the stop. Doesn't feel as if there is a gear slot there. Can take half a dozen trys with clutch release and then when it goes there is suddenly almost no resistance and it just snicks forward into reverse.

I've tried resetting the gear cables which was straightforward without any improvement. Slightly worse maybe even.

Any ideas anyone. Is anything known to wear in the selector mechanism to cause this problem.

If whilst in neutral the gearstick seems loose - then the selector is shot.

Made out of a plastic that uses a spring to spring it back into place - over time it wears, and can snap the plastic resulting in the issue you see.

Lift up the gaitor and you should be able to see...

If you're sure you can't get reverse even after following the adjustment procedure i'd probably wager that is the issue.

I checked and can't see any obvious wear. However I noticed a couple of things. Seems easier when cold and if you select reverse with a quick firm down/across/forward movement almost all as one then it goes in easily. Normally I like to feel my way into each gear. Suggests that the gentle route doesn't quite move the levers far enough and the quick movements maybe overshoot with momentum and get past the 'blockage'. So wear or wrong adjustment seems to be the problem.

The downward movement of the stick is just to get past the stop that prevents inadvertent reverse selection I think. The next leftward movement is the one which seems not to get to the gate so I will try to increase that by a more careful cable position setting. If that doesn't work then some new bits are needed. Is it the plastic ball that the gear stick sits in and its extension ball out to the left that I need to replace?

It's all one unit AFAIK... You'd have to replace the selector from the cables onwards.